Gillian Clarke has argued that classical drapery is so prevalent in European art that “classicists tend to think of it not as clothing but as an example of Greek and Roman art” (105). Drapery has long been an ‘artistic conceit’, a device showing artistic flair and rendering. This is brought to an apogee in the large paintings by the contemporary artist Alison Watt. The contours of flesh hidden by the folds of cloth are searched for in vain as there is no body hidden. Alison Watt’s work is a study of cloth, of folds, of voids, of form for.
